A Life Worth Living
by butraura
Summary: Maya has a lot going on in her life. She's a junior, working hard at school, her family has a surprise for her, her relationships with her friends are great. On the surface, it looks like she has everything. But her feelings for Lucas still linger and she's working on a secret relationship of her own. So many things she hasn't told Riley. But someone will find out, and what then?


Maya is woken up by the sounds of a sizzling pan, and the intoxicating aroma of bacon and eggs. She smiles gleefully as she slides her slippers on and takes off out of her bedroom.

She heard giggling as she reaches the kitchen, where she finds Katy washing a container of blueberries, and Shawn dicing tomatoes. She watches from the doorway and can't help but feel warm and so, so lucky that this is her family. Shawn says something she can't quite hear over the sound of their cooking and the news on the TV in the living room, but she sees Katy double over the sink with laughter and for a moment, Maya fights happy tears.

She stealthily takes her phone from her pocket and snaps a picture of her parents, something she never thought she'd ever see. Then she clears her throat.

They both look up, surprised. "Hey, kiddo!" Shawn beams. "Come help with breakfast. You can finish the tomatoes while I finish the sausages." He offers her the knife as she approaches.

"You guys know it's 6am, right?" She tries to sound annoyed but can't hide her giddiness.

"We wanted to make you a big breakfast before school," Katy replies, dumping the blueberries into a bowl of assorted fruit. She starts to toss it gently to mix it up. "Plus..." she stammers. "We have a surprise."

Maya's stomach flips, immediately running through a thousand scenarios, both good and bad, despite the fact that the tone in her mom's voice was cheerful. "Oh?"

Shawn chuckles. "It-it's not a huge deal," he starts. "We found a house." He starts transferring the cooked sausages to a plate.

"A what?" Maya asks incredulously. She stops cutting the tomatoes and stares at them.

"A house, baby girl," Katy repeats.

"I got a promotion with Hit the Road," Shawn continues, pulling plates from the cupboard. He takes the bowl of diced tomatoes from her section of the counter and pours them into a bowl of beaten eggs she'd previously not noticed. Then in a swift motion, pours a good portion of it in to the sizzling pan. She realizes then he's making omelettes - Katy's favourite breakfast food. Shawn continues, "so before, I was the one going around and writing articles and columns for the site. But now," he explains, "I'm going to be Chief Editor. I've been doing a lot of editorial work lately and the travelling is almost zero. I'll be home way more often. And it comes with a sizeable bonus. Between your mom's acting career taking off and this new job, we worked out that we're going to need a new house. This apartment, as wonderful as it was to the two of you, is the past. We need a place for our future." He stops quickly, eyes widening. "I-I hope that's okay."

Maya takes a seat at the kitchen table, taking a moment to process what he was saying. A new home. A house with enough bedrooms that her parents don't have to sleep on a futon in the living room. A house that - hopefully - doesn't have so many leaks she can smell the musty water in every room. A house with a yard to hang out with her friends in.

While she takes the time to think all the things she can, Shawn and Katy wordlessly finish preparing breakfast and plating everything. They put a plate in front of Maya - a full plate she's only just started getting used to having at her own place, as she's so used to having breakfast with the Matthews. She stares at it in silence. An omelette, two linked sausages, two slices of bacon, a slice of toast with jam, apple juice, and a small bowl of fruit salad. She scratches her head and she ponders, then picks up her fork, pushing the food around a little.

They begin to worry after at least five minutes of no reaction from her. Katy prompts a response. "Baby girl? You okay?"

Maya looks up at the both of them, then takes a giant bite of her fruit salad. "Tell me about the house."

The relief that washes over the two of them floods the room and they laugh. "It's beautiful," Shawn admits, also digging in to his food. "We didn't tell you earlier in case it didn't work out. We didn't want to disappoint you. But it is - it's gorgeous. There are three bedrooms, three bathrooms - you get your own. A finished basement and a huge kitchen with an island. Also lots of windows. Unfortunately, there's no bay window," he frowns.

She shakes her head. "There can only be one," Maya laughs. "And besides, Riley wouldn't like it if mine was better. It's easier this way."

Everyone chuckles. "There's a big office in there," Shawn adds tentatively. "I'd love for you set up an easel or something, if you wanted to. It can be our space."

Maya stares on quietly, happier than she can ever remember being. "I'd love that, too."

Katy purses her lips. "Oh, and also there's a pool," she feigns boredom.

"WHAT?"

Shawn and Katy's laughter bellows around the house.

* * *

Maya shows up to the bay window less than an hour later feeling so good about her life she can hardly remember ever feeling bad about it. She crawls in the open window and sits on the seat while Riley absentmindedly hums to herself while she gets ready. It's a routine for the two of them for Maya to show up at her best friend's house around 7am and go to school with her. It was also routine that Riley would flip flop between several different chaotically wild outfits and pick one that wasn't in the mix but was equally outlandish. She watches as Riley poses in front of the mirror. Maya used to wonder how someone could have so much joy in life. Riley never questioned people. She always believes in them, believes in good intentions, hummed her way through her day, believes in magic and sparkles and in good spirits. There was something about her that was inconceivably enraging. It occurred to Maya one day some years ago that she was filled with this fiery envy for Riley's life. She has a father - a good father, who's always present and working to be better, and a mother who somehow always had time to either say good morning or goodnight even on her busiest days. She has heat and a roof that doesn't leak and a big family to cherish.

Maya only ever had her mom. Her mom's family is estranged and her dad's family was, well... they're all strangers. It's not her family. So she grew up with this image of what a family was supposed to look like - cold, broken, absent. But when she met the Matthews it was this horrible gut-wrenching slap in the face that the truth is, some families are good, warm, wholesome, and not broken.

Even if only the tiniest, most minute part of Maya resented Riley, it was a big enough part that began to eat at her every single day when she finally met Shawn. How could she resent her for having a family? How could she hate someone for having a home?

Maya drew pictures to help ease the heartache. She hated herself for ever being angry at her best friend. Eventually, she became at peace with her own thoughts and was able to move on. So today, sitting here in the bay window and watching Riley dance through her morning brought Maya an overall sense of calm that she'd been lacking up until Shawn entered her life. Her brunette best friend turns to pose for her then, her hair whipping around with her, and she's wearing this super loud, obnoxious outfit. It's a sunshine-yellow crop top, a bright white denim skirt and yellow sneakers to match. Her knee-high socks are also white but they're covered in gold - yes, sparkly gold - hearts. "Whaddaya think?" she wonders, her smile so wide you'd think she was in pain.

Maya can't help but giggle. "You look perfect."

The pair link arms and head to the breakfast table where Topanga is pouring Auggie a bowl of Rainb-O's, the newest fruity cereal on the market. The box dons the infamous Mr Googly, which is evidently the only reason Auggie wanted it, because the taste is abhorrent. Topanga, dressed in her lawyer garb, and Cory, in his teacher flannel, greet their daughter and pseudo-daughter as they come down to eat. "Morning, girls," Cory smiles.

"Riley, Maya, there are clean bowls in the dishwasher," Topanga states as she fusses over Auggie's lunch bag.

Without missing a beat, Riley goes to grab two bowls - one for Maya - and turns around, completely surprised to not see her behind her, but still at the table. "Maya?"

Topanga looks up in confusion. "Maya, come eat. You're not going to school hungry."

Maya shakes her head, hardly containing herself. "It's okay, guys. Shawn and my mom cooked a real breakfast this morning. I'm so full," she explains. "But thank you! I appreciate it." She sits down next to Riley as her happy friend grows a frown. "What's wrong, Riles?"

Riley pouts. "I want a real breakfast." Maya knows she's only joking but Topanga's face makes her rethink that joke. "I love cereal," she quickly retorts. Topanga's sarcastic smile makes Cory laugh.

"Shawn got up that early to cook?" he wonders, shocked. "What's the occasion?"

Maya's breath hitches, and wonders if she's even allowed to tell anyone, but as everyone looks at her expectantly, she gives in. "We're buying a house."

The next sequence of noises that escaped Riley's mouth (and disturbed Maya's ears) were horrifically loud and blood-curdling, but she couldn't help squeal along with her as everyone cheered. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

"Wow, Maya, a house! That's great!" Cory whoops. Maya bounces quietly in her seat as Riley turns a light shade of pink from getting herself so worked up. A single bead of sweat forms on her forehead and Maya giggles.

"Did I mention it has a pool?"

No exaggeration, everyone applauds.

* * *

"...there's a big yard and everything," Maya enthuses, updating her friends at lunch.

The eleventh grade has proven to be difficult for the six of them because electives and compulsory courses start to dictate their schedules, whereas earlier grades like in elementary school, everyone took the same classes. Maya's schedule is very elective-centric this year, as notoriously, your junior year is the most important one on your transcript. There's no messing around.

Period 1: English III College Prep

Period 2: AP Govt and Politics

Period 3: Pre Calculus

Period 4: Lunch

Period 5: US History II

Period 6: Study Hall

Period 7: Creative Writing

Period 8: Visual Arts and History

The schedule is gruelling, and especially hard because she sees her friends much less often than in previous years. She has three classes with Riley; periods 2, 5, and 7. She has two classes with Lucas; periods 2, 5, and study hall. Three classes with Farkle; 2, 3, and 5. She shares periods 5, 7, and 8 with Zay, and periods 1, 2, and 5 with Smackle. She has at least one friend in each period but it's so difficult not being able to see them all. The only class they all have together is US History. Even though she isn't particularly interested in that field of learning, it's like therapy during hard days, because it's with all of her friends, and most importantly, Mr. Matthews is their teacher.

Right now, she's on lunch with them (the other time they're all together), filling them in on the details of the new house. They're talking paint colours for her bedroom and how soon they can throw a party after she moves in. Riley has a full spread on her iPad of different fabrics they can get from Target to spice up her bed, and Maya's laughing as she flips through webpage after webpage. Farkle, while engaged in the conversations, is engrossed in his Chemistry II homework, a class he only shares with Smackle and about 10 other students. Lucas is focused primarily on his hamburger and Zay is working on a poem for the creative writing class he has with Maya and Riley (who are both long done that assignment).

They're sitting in the cafeteria with the other juniors, the giant room chaotic and noisy, but still they're in their own world. Smackle is reading Time, Love, Memory and is lost in her own world, though she did stay involved enough to congratulate Maya on her big news.

Maya's phone buzzes then, and she sees a text from Shawn.

Hope you're having a great day today!

She grins and sends him back a thumbs up. He sends her a text every single day when she's at school to check up on her, something she came to appreciate really quickly, because it reminded her people cared about her. He knows what it was like for her because he went through it too, and wants to eliminate that pain as much as he can.

Maya snaps back to reality when Farkle slams his chemistry book closed. "I have a headache. I know too many things," he half-complains.

Smackle laughs and kisses his cheek. "C'mon, my arch-lovesis," she coos, packing up her stuff. "I need to stop by the guidance counsellor's office before class." They say goodbye to everyone and leave, the group of four of them remaining.

Lucas clears his garbage and throws it away before sitting back down. He peers over Zay's shoulder to read the poem he'd been intently writing. "...and if I could pull the moon from the sky, I'd give it to you," he recites. "Wait, you rhymed 'messy' with 'Vanessy'. What in the hell?" he laughs.

Riley and Maya snicker while Zay groans. "I can't get her out of my head, man," he complains.

"Dude, it's been literally three years since you've seen her," Lucas tries to reason.

Zay nods. "Yup."

The bell chimes then and everyone gets up to head to their next class. They all walk together to class, Riley and Maya on each side of Zay trying to comfort him.

They get to class and find their desks rearranged so that they're in groups instead of rows. This excites them for a moment until they see their names on specific desks. Maya, Lucas, and Farkle in one group with a student named Wes. Riley, Smackle, Zay in another with a student named Cleo. "Matthews, why?" Maya asks, annoyed that she isn't with Riley.

Cory smiles that all-knowing Teacher Smile. "Civil War," he replies matter-of-factly. "We've been talking about the expansion of the United States in the early 1800s. But with the development and progression of new areas of the country, the individual states disagreed on so many aspects of the federal laws and rules, so much so, it resulted in a civil war between them, while they fought for what they perceived to be the right way of life. This pertained to women's rights, slavery, and more." He begins handing out rubrics and an assignment sheets to each student. "So before we delve in to the details of this civil war, we're going to see if you, as a class, can exist under one set list of rules for the country that you guys create, or if what each group thinks will get in the way of a functioning country and result in a war!"

Maya thanks her lucky stars that she has Farkle for this assignment, but wishes above all that she didn't have to feel like she was in her government class for the second time today. Cory continues. "Each group has a number one your table state, okay?" Maya sees her group's number is 2. "That's the order in which you'll present your initial laws. Then in a rebuttal-type response, you guys will argue against any of the laws you didn't agree with and don't want your state abiding by. In the third round, the state that first proposed the law in question will either choose to modify the law to suit the states or will argue for it to stay the same. Let's see what becomes of you."

He sits down at his desk while curious chatter erupts amongst the class.

Lucas speaks up immediately to his group. "So, obviously, the first rule I think, should be that it's illegal to kill people."

Maya snorts. "You're right, Huckleberry.

Wouldn't want no cowboys takin' each other out, huh?"

He just laughs a genuine chuckle and continues. "What else?"

* * *

Maya is knees-deep in her homework during study hall. She's working on an art history visual project, where she has to research a specific ancient god or goddess, write a 1000 word personal essay on what style or theme of art they could have influenced, and create a piece of art of that god/goddess in the art style they spoke about. The project, having been assigned only days before, was the foremost thought in Miya's mind during study hall. She has her laptop in front of her at the round table she sits at alone, as well as three art history textbooks and a sketch pad.

She's scribbling barely-legible notes on small sticky notes and plastering her books with them as she reads, completely absorbed in her project as she jots down different key words for her thinking and colour-codes her thoughts. She'd just begun sketching a few ideas of how to draw Hecate, her favourite Greek goddess in the style of expressionism, when Lucas sits down beside her with his backpack and his laptop.

"Hey, again," he greets her cheerily, setting himself up for the period.

"Hiya, Ranger Rick," she quips, not looking up from her work. "Where'd you go between history and now?"

He opens his laptop and types his password. "I walked Riley and Smackle to Biology, then got carried away talking to a couple guys from my phys-ed class," he explains with ease. He peers over at her sprawl. "Jeez, Maya. I don't think I've ever seen you work this hard on an assignment," he muses, clearly impressed.

She shrugs. "This project is worth 20% of my overall grade," she tells him, her tongue sticking out in concentration between sentences. "And even though it's not due for another month, I figured I'd get a head start on it before we move."

Lucas pulls out his notes from his first class of the day and takes a drink of his coffee. "Are you excited about the move?" he wonders. "I mean, other than the obvious reactions."

"I don't know," she admits. She rips a page from her sketchbook, sticks a few coloured stickies to it, then continues on a fresh sheet. "I'm just kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"What other shoe?" he counters, confused. He watches her intently as she draws.

"My life has been going too great for too long," she reasons. "I'm due for a life-altering situation that'll drastically ruin the momentum I've got goin' for me."

"That's awfully cynical," he half-laughs, mildly entertained but mostly sad for her.

She shrugs again, indifferent. "You say cynical, but I say realistic. Life screws you over as much as it can and it doesn't use a condom."

He almost winces at her crudeness but does laugh. "You're right, Maya. But sometimes a good thing is just a good thing." She looks up at him with a knowing gaze. "What?" he asks.

"Sometimes a good thing is just a good thing," she agrees, but continues. "But sometimes the good thing gets washed away by the parade of bad, awful things."

She leans back in her chair and stops working as they chat. "What do you think is going to happen?" he presses.

"It's not that I think anything in particular is going to happen," she argues calmly. "It's just that it's the way of my life for some sort of surprise to ruin the walls I've built. I don't understand how Riley can be happy all the time. It's just not practical. I adore that rainbow-sunshine-innocence but it borders dangerously naive, and I'm scared for her," she frowns.

He nods, solemnly. "You're right, but I think she'll grow up exactly when she needs to. For now she's thriving. She loves life and she loves the uncertainty of a new day. I think we should let her."

"Yeah, I'll never crush her spirit. Don't worry. I hate seeing her sad. But one day something will happen and I'll have to see her lose faith in something she'd always believed in - people."

Lucas nods. "I guess that's probably why I love her so much," he ponders quietly.

Hearing him mention his love for Riley sends her flying back to freshman year when she and Riley and Lucas were in this horrible love triangle. They'd gotten over it since, but the knowledge that he liked both of them was a real strain on what, up up until that point was a boundless friendship. They'd worked it out by coming to the conclusion that the Maya he liked was actually just Riley 2.0, and that when she'd changed herself completely she'd become her best friend. So ultimately Lucas and Riley had gotten together, but by sophomore year they'd split again, because their relationship worked so much better as friends than as anything else, despite their feelings.

The truth is, it was bullshit. Maya gave up Lucas because she knew the triangle madness was eating at all of them, and slowly it would ruin them before it solved any problems. She gave it up, as much as she didn't want to. The benefit of that decision is that it was never, ever weird between the two of them. After Riley and Lucas broke up, things were a little weird for about a week. But Maya's friendship with both of them never missed a beat because she'd removed herself from the equation.

Still though, she longs for Lucas's hugs.

She realizes then she'd zoned out when she hears the tail end of his sentence. "...happier now that we're friends."

She nods, knowingly. "We're all friends."

The way her tone changes in those few words alerts Lucas to something and he sees the way her eyes dull as she refocuses her attention on her art. He watches her for several moments, and becomes entranced with the way her hands glide across the page, and the way she gracefully smudges the paper by accident but then uses it to her advantage in the next breath. Strangely, her work was full of emotion even though her eyes looked vacant suddenly. The bright, sky blue becomes like a thrashing ocean wave in the dead of night; dark and impossibly dangerous. Cold, even.

He knows he probably looks like a stalker, the way he stares at her, but he can't help but feel frozen in place as he takes in the scene before him. She draws this magnificent being surrounded by what he assumes is magical energy. He's not even sure what her project is on but he knows she's killing it.

"Maya," he interrupts her, worried. "Where'd you go?" He's answered by silence. She ignores him, or doesn't hear him, maybe. He puts his hand on her arms gently. "Maya?"

She stops, looks at him suddenly, and composed herself. "Yeah, sorry," she replies flippantly. "Got distracted."

He doesn't believe her for a second but decides not to push it. He starts to work on his own homework, but nothing is the same during the rest of study hall, and it's uncharacteristically quiet.

* * *

Creative writing goes by with ease; Riley doesn't notice anything different with Maya and honestly, Zay had the class reeling from his short story presentation, so he doesn't notice anything either. Maya doesn't think it was supposed to be funny, but when the class couldn't stop laughing, he ran with it.

Then in her art class she gets to continue her project. Zay sits next to her, texting Vanessa every so often, and researching what to do with his project. The teacher offers Maya words of encouragement as she watches her become a flurry of divine creativity and soon after, the day is over.

At her locker, Maya is grabbing her things when Lucas shows up next to her. "Hi," he greets, a kind but serious tone.

She side-eyes him. "S'up?"

He looks at her expectantly. "Are you okay?"

She furrows her brow, but doesn't turn to face him. "I'm fine...?" Doing her best acting performance yet, she drops the Academy-Award winning lie.

He rolls his eyes. "You're not, Maya. I can tell." He leans against the metal doors. "Something's up. We were talking earlier and then suddenly we were talking about Riley and then you got all weird."

It wasn't because of Riley, she thinks to herself. It's because I was reminded of the fact that I'll never be as good as her. "I don't know what you're going on about," she closes her locker and starts double-checking to see that she's gotten everything.

He stands back up straight, towering over her. "Maya, what happened?" he pushes once more.

She's about to answer him but then the rest of the gang shows up, Riley front and centre, smiling wide at Lucas. Maya's phone buzzes then and she sees that Shawn's outside waiting for her. She looks up at Lucas and the gang and sighs. "The other shoe."

His face drops and she walks away without so much as a goodbye to everyone else - and heads to the parking lot.

She smiles widely when she sees Shawn - a genuine, complete smile. She gets in the front seat and tosses her bag in the back seat. "Where's Momma?" she asks as she buckles her belt.

Shawn starts to drive out of the parking lot and Maya feels herself relax. "Momma's already at the house," Shawn explains, mimicking her nickname. It's sort of become a joke between them. They call Katy "Momma", not really for any particular reason, but it sort of became a bonding opportunity for them. He continues, "I dropped her off because the renovation company got there earlier than we'd expected."

"Reno company? The house isn't finished?" Maya inquires, confused.

He shakes his head, changing lanes. "It's finished, but we wanted to make a few changes before we move in. The house is ours officially, but we still have the apartment until the end of the month, so we have time to paint and refinish anything that might be more our speed. Your mom has some ideas about the kitchen," he continues. "She wants glass doors on the cabinets and to change the backsplash. We're letting ourselves be a little picky because this is a huge step for the three of us. None of us have ever had something like this. If we're going to live here, we want to love it."

"Glass doors would be real pretty," Maya grins.

He laughs. "And of course, we'd expect you to have some ideas about your bedroom and bathroom."

She practically vibrates in her seat. "YaaaaaasaaaAAAAY!" she cheers dramatically.

In no time, they arrive at the house and Maya genuinely cannot believe her eyes. Are there even houses in New York City? She looks around, half waiting for the crew from Punk'd to jump out at her because this cannot be her real life. She jumps out of the car as soon as it's parked and hugs Shawn tightly, then they walk together to the house, where Katy opens the door expectantly with a big smile on her face. "Hi, baby girl," she beams. "Hi, husband," to Shawn.

She envelops Maya in a hug and she feels so safe in that moment, her troubles from earlier this afternoon dissipate instantly. "Hi, momma."

"Let's give you a tour, yeah?"

About half an hour later, the trio is sitting at the kitchen island discussing changes they want to make to the home before they move in, like the cupboard doors, as Katy requested. Shawn suggested tearing down the wall between the living room and the kitchen to create a more open concept design, pending approval from the contractors. Maya learns they have to check to make sure the wall isn't load-bearing before they proceed.

On her list, she asked for her bedroom to be painted, changed from an off-white colour to teal walls, with all of the window and door trims a stark white to pop. She also decided to carry the palette to her washroom, but in the opposite way - all white furnishings with teal pops of colour - shower curtain, blinds, bath mats (though, to be fair, those have less to do with the contractors and more to do with their own purchases).

She couldn't wait to tell Riley.

And then, as if on cue, she gets a text from her best friend: _peaches! come over tonight? Josh is coming!_

Her stomach goes all aflutter. Josh. Mr. Long-game. She can't help but grin so widely her mom shoots her a pointed _are-you-alright_? gaze.

In a flurry, she replies: _there in a beat, honey._

"Could you guys drop me off at Riley's?" she asks her parents.

"Sure, kiddo," Shawn answers. "I think they all want to know about the house."

_I just really want to see him_.

Fast forward to about twenty minutes or so and Maya's family knocks and walks in to find the Matthews family sitting at the kitchen table, chatting.

"We have arrived, hold your applause," Maya announces in a deep, matter-of-fact voice, but still joking.

They all turn to look at them with big smiles. "So? How's the house?" Cory prompts.

"It's gorgeous, you guys," Maya answers, squeezing in the narrow space between Riley and Josh. "My room is so big and has its own bathroom. You can come over all the time, Riles."

Riley beams. "Why don't I have a bathroom, Dad?" she demands, pretending to be offended.

He looks at her with a dad-look. "Do you know what I make?"

They all laugh then and she hugs Maya's side as they hook their arms.

"Josh," Maya greets calmly.

"Maya," he replies evenly.

"Long game?"

"Long game."

On the surface, it looks like a pining relationship where both parties like each other but are waiting for the right time to be together. The reality is, at its core, is Maya keeping a secret so big from Riley, if it ever got out she may lose her forever.

The truth is, once Maya leaves Riley's house, which will inevitably be long after Shawn and Katy leave, she'll walk home "alone" and be joined shortly thereafter by Mr. Longgame. And then he'll walk her home. And before she goes inside, he'll sneak a quick kiss from her, wrapping his arms around her and getting his fingers tangled in her hair and he-

Maya zones back in as her fingers lace with his below the kitchen table, completely overlooked thanks to the tablecloth. They both listen to Shawn and Katy delve into details about the house, and it's really a fun little bit as they all chat, but truly she just wants to be alone with Josh in a bay window all of their own. She nearly melts as he rubs her knuckles with his thumb. Definitely feels very Nicholas Sparks, but she can't help but lean in to him a little bit and he has to nudge her back to get her to reorient and remember they can't do that.

She clears her throat and interrupts Shawn as he tells everyone about the backyard pool. "Shawn, can we have a party when we move in? I want my friends to come see everything."

"Sure, kiddo, absolutely."

Two-ish hours later, Josh is long gone (yeah, right), and Shawn and Katy, despite offering to drive Maya home, have already left. Maya claims she likes the walk home, but admittedly, it makes her parents nervous, knowing that their 16 year old daughter is out and about in the dark in New York City.

Still, they trust her.

When it's time for her to go (Riley is apparently struggling in her first period class, because the homework is extensive every evening), she says goodbye to everyone and climbs out the bay window. She walks down the street a bit and down an alley - which would normally be the last place she'd want to be at night. But right as planned, she finds Josh leaning against a brick wall on his phone, and when he sees her he beams, and pulls her in for a kiss.

The walk back to her apartment is pretty quiet. A few words are exchanged but nothing of any significance. She just enjoys being in his company. When they get there though, he stands to look at her. "Would you like to come to a party with me?"

"A party?" she gawks. "Really?"

He nods. "I know a college party might be a little intimidating but you know a couple of the people already," he explains. "From that time you and Riley snuck on to campus to see me."

She grins fondly. "When is it?"

"Next week. If you want to come I'll send you the details in a couple days."

She nods. "Yeah! I'd love to come. Let me know."

He kisses her forehead and pulls away. "Long game?"

She smiles warmly at him in the dark. "Long game."

As he walks away he shoots her a wink and her stomach flip flops the whole walk upstairs. She greets her parents and heads for her room, working on some homework for the remainder of the night.

* * *

The girls walk together, arms linked, into the school and straight for their lockers, where Farkle and Smackle are nose-deep in the same textbook, and Zay is on the phone (presumably with Vanessa). The girls, whose lockers are right next to each other, grab their stuff for the first period and wait for the bell.

Maya is writing a note in her phone about her art project when Lucas shows up, slightly disheveled. "Hey," he greets, our of breath.

"You good?" Riley returns, stifling a giggle.

He nods. "Just came from practice," he explains. "We always end with a couple laps around the field. But we ran a little over our time this morning so we had to rush to the showers." He bends over to balance himself. "I'm good, I'm fine," he assures them all.

He looks at Maya, skeptical. "Mornin'."

She looks up at him from her phone. "Morning, Huckleberry. You didn't leave your horse on the field too, did ya?"

Riley chuckles at her quip. "He would never, Maya."

"Glad to see you're in a better mood today, Shortstack."

She shoots him a death glare with serious undertones of playfulness, and before she can return the favour, the bell rings. He jets out of dodge so quick she isn't even sure what direction he goes in.

The day passes uneventfully - until fricken study hall, when Lucas pulls up a seat beside her and sits, radiating with inquisitive and hesitant energy. "Hey," he waves pointedly.

She looks up at him, completely unbothered. "S'up?" She types a few words on her computer and she does a quick google search.

"How's it going?" Equally wary tone.

"Fine," she answers easily. "I'm worried my project will be too big," she elaborates. "I have so many ideas and I can't seem to cut my presentation down."

He's surprised by her composure, but also by the fact she's clearly stressed about her work. It's a newer development in Maya to see her actually apply herself in school. It took the group some getting used to. Not everyone has caught up, obviously. "What are the things you have, and what are the things you want?" he tries to engage.

She turns her laptop to face him. "I have a report about the piece and the style of art I chose, which I need," she explains. She scrolls a little on the screen. "And I have two different art pieces done in that style but portraying different aspects of the goddess that I wanted to talk about. I even-" she cuts herself off to pull out her binder from her back, "-have an in-depth analysis on these little cards about why she'd be so influential on that style of art. I made these so people would have study material."

He flips through them in amazement. "These are so cool, Maya," he says in awe. "Honestly, I would just do this entire presentation and let it take as long as it takes. You can't get a bad mark for being over prepared."

She shrugs. "I guess," she hums. "I just want this project to be perfect."

"It will be."

She grins. "Thanks." She pulls out a small bag of cheese puffs and offers it to him. "Hmm?" as she shoves one in her mouth.

He just laughs, visibly relaxing, clearly having expected the worse when he joined her. He takes a cheese puff. He wonders if he should bring up her weird mood from yesterday but decides against it.

Twenty or so minutes go by in comfortable silence as the two work. He works on his math homework and she continues typing away at her computer furiously. They pound back the bag of cheese puffs and are completely in sync until a phone chimes, and he accidentally reaches for hers instead of his own, and sees the incoming text message from Riley's uncle Josh. He doesn't mean to read it, truly. But because he thought it was his own he read it faster than he realized it wasn't. So when the message pops up and says:

_Heyyyy_

_The party's at 8ish on Friday and goes to whenever._

_Don't tell Riley obviously because she'd kill us both lol_

Lucas freaks. She grabs the phone from his hand so quick she almost causes a scene in the study hall classroom.

She sends back a quick "sounds good. See you then!" and goes about her business, not having realized that Lucas read the messages.

He just stares ahead and says nothing.

Maya's going to a party with Josh? He's three years older and in college. There are so many things sketchy about that. And Riley doesn't know.

What does he do?


End file.
